The Les Paul Axcess

Not content with adding a Bigsby to a LP standard, Gibson announce the Les Paul Axcess which is marketed as the Alex Lifeson (of Rush) model.

This hybrid has two high-output humbucking pickups with series/parallel wiring options via its push-pull volume controls, and a Floyd Rose® licensed unit that is not only vibrato system but also loaded with GraphTech™ Ghost® piezo bridge saddles.

Combining the series/parallel options with the Ghost’s® realistic acoustic tones for a blend of acoustic and magnetic voices

You can route it all through a traditional mono jack (labeled “Regular”) using a single guitar cable, or use two cables to split your acoustic sounds into a separate output path using the “Regular” and the “Life-O-Sound” output jacks together.

While the Floyd Rose® looks a little better than the Bigsby VS I have not been a huge fan of them in the past. Perhaps Gibson have made some improvements to this “licensed” version and at an advertised price of around £2,699 one would hope so. The electronics are interesting but it is doubtful that they are much different to those found on other guitars with split coils. The addition of the GraphTech™ Ghost® piezo seems to be at odds with the high output humbuckers. Anyway I would like to try one.